Oprah seemed quite concerned about stories circulating that she had refused to host Palin. The perceived snub seems to have done Oprah some damage as she asked Palin to clarify several times - “I didn’t say you couldn’t be on my show, right?”
The 2008 Palin snub may have been Oprah's "Dixie Chicks" moment. She had previously left politics out of her show, before Obama. She then realized that she had conservative women watching her show too, and she had just alienated them.